Wearables

Samsung Gear S3 smartwatch to be unveiled in September?

Samsung Gear S2 by de GRISOGONO

Samsung last year changed the way it released smartwatches. Rather than unveiling a flurry of smartwatches as it had done in previous years, it unveiled only one collection, the Samsung Gear S2, at IFA 2015. Two lines were offered, the Gear S2 and the Gear S2 classic (pictured above). Since then, it has introduced a number of variants but has remained focused on this one collection […]

CoWatch is an Amazon Alexa integrated smartwatch

iMCO CoWatch

Google and Apple are not the only companies offering a digital personal assistant that can provide a range of functions and services by responding to a user’s voice. Amazon offers a similar assistant on devices like the Amazon Echo and Amazon Tap. Alexa could soon be coming to your wrist thanks to an Indiegogo campaign for the CoWatch. With a design philosophy […]

Concept Sunday: Aika smartwatch for Alzeimer’s sufferers

Aika Alzheimer's smartwatch concept

Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that slowly but inexorably robs a person of their short-term memory and other mental functions. Alzheimer’s patients have also been known to wander away and later find themselves unable to return home. The longer and further they are away, the higher the chance that they will suffer a serious injury or even death. The Aika smartwatch concept […]

New Apple Watch apps required to run natively starting June 1st

Apple WatchOS 2.0

Apple yesterday informed developers that new Apple Watch apps will need to be built using the watchOS 2 SDK or later. Starting on June 1st, only apps meeting this requirement will be accepted on the App Store. The terse note to developers reads: Starting June 1, 2016, all new watchOS apps submitted to theApp Store must be native apps built with […]

Garmin announces golf-specific Approach X40 activity tracker band

Garmin Approach X40

Garmin today announced a new wearable dedicated to golf. The Garmini Approach X40 is an activity tracker that combines activity and fitness tracking (including heart rate monitoring) with GPS golf data to (hopefully) improve your game at any of over  40,000 golf courses across the globe. During your game, the Approach X40 will track and record shot distances and provide distance […]

Fitbit and Garmin dominate wearables shelves of brick-and-mortar stores in Q1 2016

Smart wrist wearables retail brand share

Fitbit was the undisputed leader in the wearables market in the last quarter of 2015. Garmin took home fifth place that same quarter according to IDC. It should come as no surprise then that the two get the most shelf space from U.S. national retailers when it comes to smart wrist wearables. Gap Intelligence found that Fitbit accounted for 19 percent of retail placements […]

Samsung Gear S2 Band Adapter goes on sale

Samsung Gear S2 Band Adapter

Samsung today announced a new accessory for its Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch. The Gear S2 Band Adapter will give consumers greater flexibility in customizing their smartwatch. It makes it compatible with standard 20mm watch straps, including the Gear S2 classic strap, opening up a much wider range of options, including leather, metal and ceramic straps. The Gear S2 Band Adapter is made of lightweight stainless […]

Philips Health Watch to launch in September 2016

Philips Health Watch

Philips at IFA 2015 revealed plans to launch a series of personal health programs that would allow consumers to monitor and manage their health using a combination of health measurement devices, app-based personalized programs and its HealthSuite Digital Platform, a cloud-based platform that would both collect and analyze the data received from various connected devices. Among the devices unveiled was the Philips health […]